Just A Notion

Chapter 12: Realization

Thursday, 12th August, early morning.

    The next morning, Björn woke up early. The thoughts in his mind kept him awake all night, so there wasn’t much sleep for him to get. He constantly replayed the conversations and scenes he had witnessed these past few days, trying to understand how it came to this point.

     Obviously, there was no doubt about people changing, relationships and friendships changing, but that it could happen so fast, so unannounced was what troubled him thinking about the most.

     He never expected such a thing to happen in between their bond. The bond they had shared for so many years. Everything seemed to develop just fine, their relationships grew deeper, their connection as friends stronger. It was only them. The people they needed to find joy, to share loving memories and the only people that really mattered to them. It was these four against the world.

     Have these times come to an end?, Björn thought to himself, staring blankly at the ceiling. That thought scared him. It couldn’t be, could it? All the promises for the future, all the images they created of growing old together, a friendship that lasts forever. Is that really the end of it all?

     “No!”, he suddenly shouted into the stillness of his bedroom and sat up in bed. “It can´t be!” His heart started beating faster, realizing what is happening at that moment. He wouldn’t let that happen. He wouldn’t let this situation tear them apart. Not then and not ever.

     They always worked it out. They always found a way to deal with disagreements, fights or heavy situations. So why wouldn’t they be able to do it then too? It didn’t make sense to him that it seemed like no one was trying to save their friendship.

     Frida left, she ran away from the situation completely, Benny is totally furious, and Agnetha just confronted and accused Benny of having caused this. In no conversation Björn was part of were things they would usually say. There was never an 'Let’s all calm down´ or ´Let’s find a solution´. It felt like his friends weren’t the same people. As if someone had kidnapped the real Benny, Frida and Benny and replaced them with these unforgiving, accusing people.

     Björn knew that that thought was complete nonsense, though it was the only reasonable solution to calm the storm in his mind. The more he gave attention to his thoughts, the more upset it made him. He had to do something. He knew he couldn’t just sit and watch them ruin their friendship.

     With that he quickly got out of bed, threw on some clothes he found lying on the floor somewhere and hurried out of his apartment. As he stepped outside, a freezing breeze hit his face and he tied his scarf tighter around his neck and with growing determination, he got into his car.

     Björn considered meeting with Benny, but he changed his mind as soon as he reminded himself of the state his friend was in. Björn knew Benny better than anyone else in the world, they were best friends after all, and he certainly knows when Benny needs his space.

     The only other option after Benny was Agnetha. He hasn’t seen her since they last met in the studio, and she shared this terrible news with them. Frida had left and it was Benny´s fault. Of course she was furious, devastated. Björn himself could have never believed Frida would do something like that, but knowing about their relationship, it must have been the worst experience for Agnetha to experience.

     When Agnetha and Björn divorced, she turned away from him completely. She didn’t dare to talk to him or even look at him for a long time. Björn couldn’t help but regret the decisions he had made. She was his world once, the mother of his children and a great friend as well and thinking about him being the reason for her unhappiness hurt him more than he would want to admit.